Pressure reducers are generally used to reduce the pressure of a fluid (e.g., liquid or gaseous). They are usually installed in the course of a pipeline, so that, at the high pressure inlet, the pressure is even higher, but the low pressure outlet is at a lower pressure. For example, the pressure in a water pipe or the pressure from a compressed air bottle or gas bottle is reduced to a desired extent with a pressure reducer or pressure controller of the type mentioned above.
In addition, pressure reducers are also known from the prior art, which can be actuated electromagnetically. For example, EP 1 209 336 A2 discloses a pressure reducer for a gas injection system for a methane-fueled internal combustion engine. Here, a valve piston which is pressed against a valve seat by a spring is lifted electromagnetically to open the valve. In the rest state, the valve is, therefore, closed because of the spring. The pressure at the low-pressure outlet can be set using pulse width modulation, i.e., variation of the ratio of the time when the valve is open and the time in which the valve is closed. Strictly speaking, this device is not, however, a pressure reducer of the type mentioned, but because the valve is normally closed in the idle state owing to the spring, it is a conventional solenoid valve which is operated as a pressure reducer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,697 B1 further discloses a valve for pressure reduction, which has a high pressure inlet, a low pressure inlet and a load output. An electromagnetically actuated piston valve connects the load output to the high-pressure inlet or to the low pressure inlet. In this apparatus, because of the many connections, this is not a pressure regulator in the traditional sense with a high pressure inlet and a low pressure outlet.
From DE 10 2008 020 019 A1, a solenoid valve is known with a valve housing having a valve closure body and a solenoid actuator unit controlling the valve closure body, whereby the valve closure body has an operative connection to a valve seat and controls the flow cross section between a high pressure port on the valve housing and a low pressure port on the valve housing as an extension of the valve seat, and whereby a compression spring is arranged in the vicinity of the valve seat and/or the low-pressure port and is supported on the valve housing. The other end of the compression spring acts upon the valve closure body in the opening direction against the closing force of the solenoid actuator unit. A sealing element is located between the valve housing and the valve closing body on its region facing away from the valve seat.
DE 37 41 526 A1 discloses a poppet valve, especially when used as a relief valve for controlling the start and end of delivery of fuel injection pumps, with a valve chamber contained in a valve casing, a valve aperture that divides the valve chamber into a high-pressure chamber and a discharge chamber, a valve seat enclosing the valve aperture, a valve element that interacts with the valve seat to close and open the valve aperture, which rests with a closure surface tight against the valve seat in the valve closed position and is subjected to high pressure in the valve opening direction when in that position, and carries a control surface loaded by the high pressure in the valve closing direction, and with an electrical actuator, in particular an electromagnet, which actuates the valve element.